STAMFORD, Conn. — The Connecticut woman who was shot to death outside the U.S. Capitol after trying to ram her car through a White House barrier had been deteriorating mentally for months and believed the president was communicating with her, a federal law enforcement official said Friday.

Miriam Carey’s killing at the hands of police Thursday was Washington’s second major spasm of deadly violence involving an apparently unstable person in 2 1/2 weeks.

Interviews with some of those who knew the 34-year-old woman suggested she was coming apart well before she loaded her 1-year-old daughter into the car for the drive to Washington.

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Carey had suffered a head injury in a fall and had been fired as a dental hygienist, according to her former employer. And her mother said she was suffering from postpartum depression.

The federal official, who had been briefed about the investigation but was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said investigators have been interviewing Carey’s family about her mental state and reviewing writings found in her Stamford condominium.

“We are seeing serious degradation in her mental health, certainly within the last 10 months, since December, ups and downs,” the official said. “Our working theory is her mental health was a significant driver in her unexpected presence in D.C. yesterday.”

The woman had made delusional “expressions about the president in the past” and believed President Barack Obama was communicating to her, the official said.

“Those communications were, of course, in her head,” the official said, adding that concerns about her mental health were reported in the last year to Stamford police.

The official said investigators believe that she drove straight to the nation’s capital and that the violence unfolded immediately upon her arrival.

After ramming the barricades at the White House, the apparently unarmed Carey led police on a chase down Constitution Avenue to the Capitol, where she was shot in a harrowing chain of events that led to a brief lockdown of Congress. Carey’s daughter escaped serious injury and was taken into protective custody.

Carey’s neighbours in Stamford were shocked to learn the driver’s identity and see her gleaming black Infiniti wrecked outside the Capitol in TV footage.

Erin Jackson, her next-door neighbour on the building’s ground floor, said Carey doted on her daughter, Erica, often taking the girl on picnics.

“She was pleasant. She was very happy with her daughter, very proud of her daughter,” she said. “I just never would have anticipated this in a million years.”

But Carey’s mother, Idella Carey, told ABC that her daughter began suffering from postpartum depression after giving birth in August 2012.

“She was depressed. … She was hospitalized,” said Idella Carey, who said her daughter had no history of violence.

Dr. Brian Evans, a periodontist in Hamden, Conn., said Carey was fired from her job at his office about a year ago. He would not say why. He said Carey had been away from the job for a period after falling down a staircase and suffering a head injury, and it was a few weeks after she returned to work that she was fired.

“We’re shocked to know this happened and we feel saddened for her family and all those involved,” he said.

On Sept. 16, a mentally disturbed man killed 12 people in a shooting rampage at the Washington Navy Yard before dying in a gun battle with police.

Aaron Alexis, a defence-industry employee and former Navy Reservist, had complained of hearing voices and said in writings left behind that he was driven to kill by months of bombardment with electromagnetic waves.

Carey had been sued by her condominium association for failure to pay fees, court records show. A lawsuit settled in February alleged that she owed the association $1,759 plus collection costs.

Washington Capitol police brandish their guns at a black Infiniti before jumping back as the car squeals out from the circle of armed law officers.

This moment, and the moments following, were captured by an amateur videographer on Thursday, showing a portion of the chase that locked down Washington, D.C., after a woman, identified as 34-year-old Miriam Carey, rammed her car into a barrier at the White House.

After the car pulls away from the police officers, it screams off to the left of the screen before pulling back around and shooting back to the right. At that point the car is being chased by two police cars. The black Infiniti then pulls a quick loop around Garfield circle and continues away from the police.

As one pundit who saw the video put it, Carey’s driving skill probably escalated the situation.

“Not meant flippantly, but her ability to handle the car is amazing, and I suspect made her seem even more threatening,” TPM Editor-in-Chief Josh Marshall wrote on Twitter.

The harrowing chase Thursday unfolded between two U.S. landmarks, briefly shuttered the chambers where federal lawmakers were debating how to end a government shutdown and stirred fresh panic in a city where a gunman two weeks ago killed 12 people.

Two law enforcement officials identified the driver as 34-year-old Miriam Carey, of Stamford, Connecticut. She was travelling with a one-year-old girl who avoided serious injury and was taken into protective custody. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.

Carey’s mother, Idella Carey, told ABC News Thursday night that her daughter began suffering from postpartum depression after giving birth to her daughter, Erica, last August.

“A few months later, she got sick,” she said. “She was depressed…. She was hospitalized.”

Idella Carey said her daughter had “no history of violence” and she didn’t know why she was in Washington on Thursday. She said she thought Carey was taking Erica to a doctor’s appointment in Connecticut.

Police said there appeared to be no direct link to terrorism and there was no indication the woman was even armed. Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine, whose officers have been working without pay as a result of the shutdown, called it an “isolated, singular matter.”

Still, tourists, congressional staff and even some senators watched anxiously as a caravan of law enforcement vehicles chased a black Infiniti with Connecticut license plates down Constitution Avenue outside the Capitol and as officers with high-powered firearms canvased the area. The House and Senate both abruptly suspended business, a lawmaker’s speech cut off in mid-sentence, as the Capitol Police broadcast a message over its emergency radio system telling people to stay in place and move away from the windows.

The woman’s car at one point had been surrounded by police cars and she managed to escape, careening around a traffic circle and past the north side of the Capitol building. Video shot by a TV cameraman showed police pointing firearms at her car before she rammed a Secret Service vehicle and continued driving. Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier said police shot and killed her a block northeast of the historic building.

In Connecticut, the FBI served a search warrant in connection with the investigation and police cordoned off a condominium building and the surrounding neighbourhood in the shoreline city.

The chain-of-events began when the woman sped onto a driveway leading to the White House, over a set of barricades. When the driver couldn’t get through a second barrier, she spun the car in the opposite direction, flipping a Secret Service officer over the hood of the car as she sped away, said B.J. Campbell, a tourist from Portland, Oregon.

Then the chase began.

One Secret Service member and a 23-year veteran of the Capitol Police were injured. Officials said they are in good condition and expected to recover.

Congressman Michael McCaul, who said he was briefed by the Homeland Security Department, said he did not think the woman was armed. “There was no return fire,” he said.

A few senators between the Capitol and their office buildings said they heard the shots.

AP Photo/Alhurra TelevisionThis image from video provided by Alhurra Television shows police with guns drawn surrounding a black Infiniti near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013. A woman with a young child inside tried to ram through a White House barricade, then led police on a chase toward the Capitol, where police shot and killed her, witnesses and officials said.

AP Photo/Alhurra TelevisionThis image from video provided by Alhurra Television shows a black Infiniti speeding near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013. A woman with a young child inside tried to ram through a White House barricade, then led police on a chase toward the Capitol, where police shot and killed her, witnesses and officials said.

“We heard three, four, five pops,” said Democratic Sen. Bob Casey. Police ordered Casey and nearby tourists to crouch behind a car for protection, then hustled everyone into the Capitol.

Others witnessed the incident, too.

“There were multiple shots fired and the air was filled with gunpowder,” said Berin Szoka, whose office at a technology think-tank overlooks the shooting scene.

ALHURRA TELEVISION-/AFP/Getty ImagesThis framegrab taken courtesy of Alhurra Television, shows police officers with guns drawn approaching a black car on October 3, 2013, near the US Capitol. A volley of shots rang out outside the US Capitol building as police intercepted a suspect Thursday, sending lawmakers and tourists scattering for cover and triggering a massive security operation.

AP Photo/Alhurra TelevisionThis image from video provided by Alhurra Television shows police with guns drawn surrounding a black Infiniti near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013. A woman with a young child inside tried to ram through a White House barricade, then led police on a chase toward the Capitol, where police shot and killed her, witnesses and officials said.

The shooting comes two weeks after a mentally disturbed employee terrorized the Navy Yard with a shotgun, leaving 13 people dead including the gunman.

Before the disruption, lawmakers had been trying to find common ground to end a government shutdown. The House had just finished approving legislation aimed at partly lifting the government shutdown by paying National Guard and Reserve members.

Capitol Police on the plaza around the Capitol said they were working without pay as the result of the shutdown. A spokesman for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said a bill to pay them was under consideration.

AP First responders put a police officer on the stretcher after pulling his out of a wrecked police car after shots fired were reported near 2nd Street NW and Constitution Avenue on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on October 3, 2013. The US Capitol was placed on security lockdown Thursday after shots were fired outside the complex, senators said. "Shots fired outside the Capitol. We are in temporary lock down," Senator Claire McCaskill said on Twitter. Police were seen running within the Capitol building and outside as vehicles swarmed to the scene. AFP Photo/Jewel SamadJEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images

Win McNamee/Getty ImagesLaw enforcement personnel gather around a police vehicle that was involved in an incident with another vehicle on Constitution Avenue outside the U.S. Capitol October 3, 2013 in Washington, DC.

AFP Photo/Jewel SamadJEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty ImagesPeople take cover as gun shots were being heard at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on October 3, 2013. The US Capitol was placed on security lockdown Thursday after shots were fired outside the complex, senators said. "Shots fired outside the Capitol. We are in temporary lock down," Senator Claire McCaskill said on Twitter. Police were seen running within the Capitol building and outside as vehicles swarmed to the scene.

WASHINGTON — The mother of a woman who was shot to death by police after a car chase that began when she tried to breach a barrier at the White House said her daughter suffered from post-partum depression.

The harrowing chase Thursday unfolded between two U.S. landmarks, briefly shuttered the chambers where federal lawmakers were debating how to end a government shutdown and stirred fresh panic in a city where a gunman two weeks ago killed 12 people.

Two law enforcement officials identified the driver as 34-year-old Miriam Carey, of Stamford, Connecticut. She was travelling with a 1-year-old girl who avoided serious injury and was taken into protective custody. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.

Carey’s mother, Idella Carey, told ABC News Thursday night that her daughter began suffering from post-partum depression after giving birth to her daughter, Erica, last August.

“A few months later, she got sick,” she said. “She was depressed. … She was hospitalized.”

Idella Carey said her daughter had “no history of violence” and she didn’t know why she was in Washington on Thursday. She said she thought Carey was taking Erica to a doctor’s appointment in Connecticut.

Police said there appeared to be no direct link to terrorism and there was no indication the woman was even armed. Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine, whose officers have been working without pay as a result of the shutdown, called it an “isolated, singular matter.”

Still, tourists, congressional staff and even some senators watched anxiously as a caravan of law enforcement vehicles chased a black Infiniti with Connecticut license plates down Constitution Avenue outside the Capitol and as officers with high-powered firearms canvased the area. The House and Senate both abruptly suspended business, a lawmaker’s speech cut off in mid-sentence, as the Capitol Police broadcast a message over its emergency radio system telling people to stay in place and move away from the windows.

The woman’s car at one point had been surrounded by police cars and she managed to escape, careening around a traffic circle and past the north side of the Capitol building. Video shot by a TV cameraman showed police pointing firearms at her car before she rammed a Secret Service vehicle and continued driving. Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier said police shot and killed her a block northeast of the historic building.

In Connecticut, the FBI served a search warrant in connection with the investigation and police cordoned off a condominium building and the surrounding neighbourhood in the shoreline city.

The chain-of-events began when the woman sped onto a driveway leading to the White House, over a set of barricades. When the driver couldn’t get through a second barrier, she spun the car in the opposite direction, flipping a Secret Service officer over the hood of the car as she sped away, said B.J. Campbell, a tourist from Portland, Oregon.

Then the chase began.

AP Photo/Alhurra TelevisionThis image from video provided by Alhurra Television shows police with guns drawn surrounding a black Infiniti near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013. A woman with a young child inside tried to ram through a White House barricade, then led police on a chase toward the Capitol, where police shot and killed her, witnesses and officials said.

One Secret Service member and a 23-year veteran of the Capitol Police were injured. Officials said they are in good condition and expected to recover.

Congressman Michael McCaul, who said he was briefed by the Homeland Security Department, said he did not think the woman was armed. “There was no return fire,” he said.

A few senators between the Capitol and their office buildings said they heard the shots.

AP Photo/Alhurra TelevisionThis image from video provided by Alhurra Television shows a black Infiniti speeding near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013. A woman with a young child inside tried to ram through a White House barricade, then led police on a chase toward the Capitol, where police shot and killed her, witnesses and officials said.

“We heard three, four, five pops,” said Democratic Sen. Bob Casey. Police ordered Casey and nearby tourists to crouch behind a car for protection, then hustled everyone into the Capitol.

Others witnessed the incident, too.

“There were multiple shots fired and the air was filled with gunpowder,” said Berin Szoka, whose office at a technology think-tank overlooks the shooting scene.

ALHURRA TELEVISION-/AFP/Getty ImagesThis framegrab taken courtesy of Alhurra Television, shows police officers with guns drawn approaching a black car on October 3, 2013, near the US Capitol. A volley of shots rang out outside the US Capitol building as police intercepted a suspect Thursday, sending lawmakers and tourists scattering for cover and triggering a massive security operation.

AP Photo/Alhurra TelevisionThis image from video provided by Alhurra Television shows police with guns drawn surrounding a black Infiniti near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013. A woman with a young child inside tried to ram through a White House barricade, then led police on a chase toward the Capitol, where police shot and killed her, witnesses and officials said.

The shooting comes two weeks after a mentally disturbed employee terrorized the Navy Yard with a shotgun, leaving 13 people dead including the gunman.

Before the disruption, lawmakers had been trying to find common ground to end a government shutdown. The House had just finished approving legislation aimed at partly lifting the government shutdown by paying National Guard and Reserve members.

Capitol Police on the plaza around the Capitol said they were working without pay as the result of the shutdown. A spokesman for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said a bill to pay them was under consideration.

AP First responders put a police officer on the stretcher after pulling his out of a wrecked police car after shots fired were reported near 2nd Street NW and Constitution Avenue on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on October 3, 2013. The US Capitol was placed on security lockdown Thursday after shots were fired outside the complex, senators said. "Shots fired outside the Capitol. We are in temporary lock down," Senator Claire McCaskill said on Twitter. Police were seen running within the Capitol building and outside as vehicles swarmed to the scene. AFP Photo/Jewel SamadJEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images

Win McNamee/Getty ImagesLaw enforcement personnel gather around a police vehicle that was involved in an incident with another vehicle on Constitution Avenue outside the U.S. Capitol October 3, 2013 in Washington, DC.

AFP Photo/Jewel SamadJEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty ImagesPeople take cover as gun shots were being heard at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on October 3, 2013. The US Capitol was placed on security lockdown Thursday after shots were fired outside the complex, senators said. "Shots fired outside the Capitol. We are in temporary lock down," Senator Claire McCaskill said on Twitter. Police were seen running within the Capitol building and outside as vehicles swarmed to the scene.

A woman with a 1-year-old girl led Secret Service and police on a harrowing car chase from the White House past the Capitol Thursday, attempting to penetrate the security barriers at both national landmarks before she was shot to death, police said. The child was unhurt.

“I’m pretty confident this was not an accident,” said Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier. Still, Capitol Police said there appeared to be no terrorist link. The woman apparently was unarmed.

Tourists, congressional staff and even some senators watched as a caravan of law enforcement vehicles chased a black Infiniti with Connecticut license plates down Constitution Avenue outside the Capitol. House and Senate lawmakers, inside debating how to end a government shutdown, briefly shuttered their chambers as Capitol Police shut down the building.

The woman’s car at one point had been surrounded by police cars and she managed to escape, careening around a traffic circle and past the north side of the Capitol. Video shot by a TV camerman showed police pointing firearms at her car before she rammed a Secret Service vehicle and continued driving. Lanier said police shot and killed her a block northeast of the historic building.

AP Photo/Alhurra TelevisionThis image from video provided by Alhurra Television shows a black Infiniti speeding near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013. A woman with a young child inside tried to ram through a White House barricade, then led police on a chase toward the Capitol, where police shot and killed her, witnesses and officials said.

One Secret Service member and a 23-year veteran of the Capitol Police were injured. Officials said they are in good condition and expected to recover.

“This appears to be an isolated, singular matter, with, at this point, no nexus to terrorism,” said Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine.

Law-enforcement authorities identified the woman as Miriam Carey, 34, a dental hygienist from Stamford, Conn. The authorities spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge the information publicly.

Dr. Brian L. Evans, a periodontist in Hamden, Conn., for whom Carey had worked until about a year ago, told The New York Times that he believed that she had suffered a significant head injury sometime during the year she was employed by him. He described Carey as having “a bit of a temper,” but “nothing unusual, nothing that would ever lead us to think she would ever do anything like this.”

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Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia said the FBI was executing a search warrant at a Stamford address in connection with the investigation. Police officers had cordoned off a condominium building and the surrounding neighbourhood in the shoreline city. Bomb units were reportedly standing by.

The pursuit began when the car sped onto a driveway leading to the White House, over a set of lowered barricades. When the driver couldn’t get through a second barrier, she spun the car in the opposite direction, flipping a Secret Service officer over the hood of the car as she sped away, said B.J. Campbell, a tourist from Portland, Ore.

“The barrier fell on top of the guard who fell on the ground,”said Jacob Mathews, 26, a tourist from New Zealand. “He seemed to be okay because he got up. The car then drove off towards the Capitol and some police went after it.”

Then the chase began. Uniformed secret service officers took off after her, police later said.

“The car was trying to get away. But it was going over the median and over the curb,” said Matthew Coursen, who was watching from a cab window when the Infiniti sped by him. “The car got boxed in and that’s when I saw an officer of some kind draw his weapon and fire shots into the car.”

ALHURRA TELEVISION-/AFP/Getty ImagesThis framegrab taken courtesy of Alhurra Television, shows police officers with guns drawn approaching a black car on October 3, 2013, near the US Capitol. A volley of shots rang out outside the US Capitol building as police intercepted a suspect Thursday, sending lawmakers and tourists scattering for cover and triggering a massive security operation.

Police shot and killed the driver just outside the Hart Senate Office Building, where many senators have their offices. Dine said an officer took the child from the car to a hospital. She was not injured and was placed in protective custody, Capitol Police said.

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who said he was briefed by the Homeland Security Department, said he did not think the woman was armed. “There was no return fire,” he said.

A few senators between the Capitol and their office buildings said they heard the shots.

AP Photo/Alhurra TelevisionThis image from video provided by Alhurra Television shows police with guns drawn surrounding a black Infiniti near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013. A woman with a young child inside tried to ram through a White House barricade, then led police on a chase toward the Capitol, where police shot and killed her, witnesses and officials said.

“We heard three, four, five pops,” said Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa. Police ordered Casey and nearby tourists to crouch behind a car for protection, then hustled everyone into the Capitol.

Others witnessed the incident, too.

“There were multiple shots fired and the air was filled with gunpowder,” said Berin Szoka, whose office at a technology think tank overlooks the shooting scene.

“Exactly at 2:19 I was standing in the front of the Capitol building and I heard gun shots,” said Ibrahima Bangoura, 44, who lives in Maryland. “I looked back and I saw a small sedan car driving fast and that car was chased by police, like five police. I heard from seven to eight shots. Pop, pop, pop. And then I heard a boom and that was an accident on Constitution Avenue (where a police car was struck) and after that there was two police who told us to leave. People were running away from the gun shot area. I was very scared. I thought somebody was attacking the Capitol.”

The shooting comes two weeks after a mentally disturbed employee terrorized the Navy Yard with a shotgun, leaving 13 people dead including the gunman.

Before the disruption, lawmakers had been trying to find common ground to end a government shutdown. The House had just finished approving legislation aimed at partly lifting the government shutdown by paying National Guard and Reserve members.

Capitol Police on the plaza around the Capitol said they were working without pay as the result of the shutdown.

JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty ImagesFirst responders put a police officer on the stretcher after pulling him out of a wrecked police car after shots fired were reported near 2nd Street NW and Constitution Avenue on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on October 3, 2013.

Win McNamee/Getty ImagesLaw enforcement personnel gather around a police vehicle that was involved in an incident with another vehicle on Constitution Avenue outside the U.S. Capitol October 3, 2013 in Washington, DC.

AFP Photo/Jewel SamadJEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty ImagesPeople take cover as gun shots were being heard at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on October 3, 2013. The US Capitol was placed on security lockdown Thursday after shots were fired outside the complex, senators said. "Shots fired outside the Capitol. We are in temporary lock down," Senator Claire McCaskill said on Twitter. Police were seen running within the Capitol building and outside as vehicles swarmed to the scene.

AFP PHOTO/Brendan SMIALOWSKIBRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty ImagesPolice react on Capitol Hill October 3, 2013 in Washington, DC, after shots fired were reported near 2nd Street NW and Constitution Avenue on Capitol Hill. The US Capitol was placed on security lockdown Thursday after shots were fired outside the complex, senators said. "Shots fired outside the Capitol. We are in temporary lock down," Senator Claire McCaskill said on Twitter. Police were seen running within the Capitol building and outside as vehicles swarmed to the scene.

AFP PHOTO / Mandel NGANMANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty ImagesPeople run for cover as police converge to the site of a shooting October 3, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The US Capitol was placed on security lockdown Thursday after shots were fired outside the complex, senators said. "Shots fired outside the Capitol. We are in temporary lock down," Senator Claire McCaskill said on Twitter. Police were seen running within the Capitol building and outside as vehicles swarmed to the scene.

AFP PHOTO / Mandel NGANMANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty ImagesCapitol Hill police are seen at the site of a shooting October 3, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The US Capitol was placed on security lockdown Thursday after shots were fired outside the complex, senators said. "Shots fired outside the Capitol. We are in temporary lock down," Senator Claire McCaskill said on Twitter. Police were seen running within the Capitol building and outside as vehicles swarmed to the scene.

A woman driving a black Infiniti with a young child inside tried to ram through a White House barricade Thursday, then led police on a chase toward the Capitol, where police shot and killed her, witnesses and officials said.

The District of Columbia’s police chief says the suspect who led police on a chase from the White House to the Capitol is dead.

Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier told reporters Thursday evening that shots were fired in two locations. Near the Capitol, police killed the woman driving the black Infiniti with a young child inside. She said the child, who is about a year old, is in good condition and in protective custody.

U.S. Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine said the incident is believed to be an isolated act unrelated to terrorism.

Tourists watched the shooting unfold on Constitution Avenue outside the Capitol as lawmakers inside debated how to end a government shutdown. Police quickly locked down the entire complex temporarily, and both houses of Congress went into recess.

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Tex., who said he was briefed by the Homeland Security Department, said the woman was killed. Asked if she was armed, he replied: “I don’t think she was. There was no return fire.”

AFP PHOTO / Mandel NGANMANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty ImagesCapitol Hill police are seen at the site of a shooting October 3, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The US Capitol was placed on security lockdown Thursday after shots were fired outside the complex, senators said. "Shots fired outside the Capitol. We are in temporary lock down," Senator Claire McCaskill said on Twitter. Police were seen running within the Capitol building and outside as vehicles swarmed to the scene.

VIDEO OF THE CONFRONTATION BETWEEN POLICE AND THE SUSPECT

The pursuit began when a car with Connecticut plates sped onto the driveway leading to the White House, over a set of lowered barricades. When she couldn’t get through a second barrier, she spun the car in the opposite direction, flipping a Secret Service officer over the hood of the car as she sped away, said B.J. Campbell, a visiting tourist from Portland, Ore.

A fleet of police and Secret Service cars chased the Infiniti toward Capitol Hill.

“The car was trying to get away. But it was going over the median and over the curb,” said Matthew Coursen, who was on his way to a legislative office building when the Infiniti sped by him. “The car got boxed in and that’s when I saw an officer of some kind draw his weapon and fire shots into the car.”

Coursen watched the shooting from his cab window.

“I thought to myself, ‘The car is getting blocked in. The car is going to surrender,'” he said. “Now the cop has his weapon out. The car kept trying to get away. Then he fired shots.”

Senate Sergeant at Arms Terrance Gainer said a child was taken from the car to a hospital but said he knew of no harm to the youngster. Tourist Edmund Ofori-Attah said the child appeared to be about 2 to 3 years old.

Win McNamee/Getty ImagesLaw enforcement personnel gather around a police vehicle that was involved in an incident with another vehicle on Constitution Avenue outside the U.S. Capitol October 3, 2013 in Washington, DC.

A police officer was injured in the traffic accident but Gainer said the injuries were not life threatening.

“We heard three, four, five pops,” said Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., who was walking from the Capitol to an office building across the street. Police ordered Casey and nearby tourists to crouch behind a car for protection, then hustled everyone into the Capitol.

“There were multiple shots fired and the air was filled with gunpowder,” said Berin Szoka, whose office at a technology think tank overlooks the shooting scene.

AFP PHOTO/Brendan SMIALOWSKIBRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty ImagesPolice react on Capitol Hill October 3, 2013 in Washington, DC, after shots fired were reported near 2nd Street NW and Constitution Avenue on Capitol Hill. The US Capitol was placed on security lockdown Thursday after shots were fired outside the complex, senators said. "Shots fired outside the Capitol. We are in temporary lock down," Senator Claire McCaskill said on Twitter. Police were seen running within the Capitol building and outside as vehicles swarmed to the scene.

The shooting comes two weeks after a mentally disturbed employee terrorized the Navy Yard with a shotgun, leaving 13 people dead including the gunman.

Before the disruption, lawmakers had been trying to find common ground to end a government shutdown. The House had just finished approving legislation aimed at partly lifting the government shutdown by paying National Guard and Reserve members.

U.S. Capitol Police on the plaza around the Capitol said they were working without pay as the result of the shutdown.

AFP PHOTO / Mandel NGANMANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty ImagesPeople run for cover as police converge to the site of a shooting October 3, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The US Capitol was placed on security lockdown Thursday after shots were fired outside the complex, senators said. "Shots fired outside the Capitol. We are in temporary lock down," Senator Claire McCaskill said on Twitter. Police were seen running within the Capitol building and outside as vehicles swarmed to the scene.

AFP PHOTO / Mandel NGANMANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty ImagesPeople run for cover as police converge to the site of a shooting October 3, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The US Capitol was placed on security lockdown Thursday after shots were fired outside the complex, senators said. "Shots fired outside the Capitol. We are in temporary lock down," Senator Claire McCaskill said on Twitter. Police were seen running within the Capitol building and outside as vehicles swarmed to the scene.

AFP Photo/Jewel SamadJEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty ImagesPeople take cover as gun shots were being heard at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on October 3, 2013. The US Capitol was placed on security lockdown Thursday after shots were fired outside the complex, senators said. "Shots fired outside the Capitol. We are in temporary lock down," Senator Claire McCaskill said on Twitter. Police were seen running within the Capitol building and outside as vehicles swarmed to the scene.